The National Assembly (Arabic: المجلس الوطني البحريني, romanized: al-Majlis al-watani) is the bicameral legislative body of Bahrain. It consists of the 40 elected members of the Council of Representatives (the lower house) and the 40 royally-appointed members of the Consultative Council (the upper house). The joint session of the National Assembly is chaired by the Speaker of the Council of Representatives, or by the Speaker of the Consultative Council if the former is absent.
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The Consultative Council (Arabic: مجلس الشورى, romanized: Majlis al-shura), also known as the Shura Council, is the upper house of the National Assembly, the main legislative body of Bahrain.
The Council comprises 40 members appointed directly by the King of Bahrain. The 40 nominated members of the Consultative Council combined with the 40 elected members of the Council of Representatives form the National Assembly of Bahrain. All laws (except for "Royal decrees") have to be passed by both chambers of the Assembly. This allows technical expertise and minority communities a role within the legislative process: in Bahrain, a Bahraini Christian woman, Alees Samaan and a Bahraini Jewish man have been appointed. After there was widespread disappointment that no women were elected to the lower house in 2002's general election, four women were appointed to the Consultative Council.
The King of the Kingdom of Bahrain (Arabic: ملك مملكة البحرين Malik Mamlakat al-Baḥrayn) is the monarch and head of state of the Kingdom of Bahrain. The House of Khalifa has been the ruling family of the country since the 1783 Arab invasion that led to the end of Persian rule in Bahrain. Between 1783 and 1971, the Bahraini monarch held the title of hakim, and, from 1971 until 2002, the title of emir. On 14 February 2002, the emir of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, declared Bahrain a kingdom and proclaimed himself the first king. The king enjoys wide-ranging powers, which include appointing the prime minister and the cabinet, holding supreme command over the Defence Force, chairing the Higher Judicial Council, appointing the parliament's upper house and dissolving its elected lower house.
The Council of Representatives (Arabic: مجلس النواب, romanized: Majlis an-nuwab), sometimes translated as the "Chamber of Deputies", is the name given to the lower house of the Bahraini National Assembly, the bicameral national legislative body of Bahrain.
The council was created by the 2002 Constitution of Bahrain and consists of forty members elected by universal suffrage. Members are elected for four-year terms from single-member constituencies using a two-round system, with a second round being held of the top two candidates if no candidate receives 50% of the vote in the first round. Candidates must be Bahraini citizens and at least 30 years old.